The partial combustion of carbon-containing material, e.g., coal, to produce synthesis gas, which is essentially carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is well known, and a survey of such known processes is given in "Ullmanns Enzyklopadie der Technischen Chemie", Vol. 10 (1958), pp. 360-458. Several such processes for the preparation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide-containing gases by the partial combustion of coal are currently being utilized world-wide on a commercial scale.